Thursday, April 24, 2014

By: Kat Kiele
Wondercon, which is a convention started by the same people that founded San Diego ComicCon, has branched out and is becoming more popular for costumers. This convention is turning into what San Diego ComicCon use to be, where it is costumer friendly, family friendly, and more pocket-book friendly. My experience at Wondercon 2014 has been more than words can describe. Being able to walk around, meeting new people and taking photos with more experienced cosplayers was breath taking.

Ellen (left) Scott (right)

According to a Mandalorian Mercs Member, Ellen, "
I love trooping with
the Mercs in armor because I feel like I'm expressing who I am. I feel like I'm
with family and from my first armor party I felt comfortable. It's inspiring to
be around them from being motivated to complete your gear to just being a
better person. I love my Vode!"

This being my first convention that I was able to attend in armor, it was more tiring than I thought it would be. One of my costuming friend, who is also a Mandalorian, would often get stopped every few steps for a photo. Not only was there a huge presence of 27 Mandalorians, the 501st Legion had a large presence as well. Instead of a typical booth, they had an exhibitor's space that was set up to a Star Wars Scene. The Rebel Legion, headed up by the Sun Rider Base was also there with several Jedi actively walking around. There was also a comic-book accurate Quinlan Vos and his daughter as a Rebel Pilot.

"'Wondercon 2014
happened this past weekend and much fun was had by all! Like most people I
always look forward to the big cons, I don’t really buy things, and I don’t
care too much about panels; the main draw for me is all the great cosplays. I
love seeing people’s creativity, more than anything else; from super heroes to
star wars I never grow tired of it. The highlight of weekend for me was seeing
the group of Willrow Hoods running around with their fake mustaches and bright
orange jump suits. It was the perfect example of cosplayers just having a great
time color." According to Mandalorian Mercs Costumer, Randy Figueroa.

Not only were the costuming groups having fun at the convention, the R2 D2 Builders were having fun showing off their new Astromech Droids. Here, a young girl, about 2 years of age, who was dressed as baby Predator the day before, is being put into an R2 Unit. This is definitely parenting done right.

This Con was also informative to the public about the new Star Wars Cartoon, which is taking over The Clone Wars, by the name of Star Wars Rebels. According to life time Star Wars fan, Ryan Perara, who attended the Panel, '"My Wondercon
experience was awesome! I may have only gone for one day but it was filled with
fun! I arrived at Wondercon at 8:45 in the morning and waited to start
volunteering at 9:45! The volunteering was a great place for me to make new
friends and just enjoy the con in a whole new perspective! After I was done
volunteering I entered onto the massive con floor where all the vendors were.
There were vendors that sold exclusives, old toys, busts old comics. You could
find anything on this convention floor. As I was walking the convention floor I
stumbled upon Dave Filoni. Dave Filoni, if you don’t know is the director of
Star Wars the Clone Wars and soon to be Star Wars Rebels. When I met him he was
a great guy and he just made my day! The rest of the day was filled with fun of
shopping around! The cosplaying at the convention was absolutely cool! I like
seeing crazy costumes it inspires me to start working on one! If you have never
been to Wondercon I greatly recommend it because it is a great place for geeks
of all fandoms to enjoy."'As stated above, there wasn't just Star Wars Cosplayers, but many other costumers, such as Captain America from The Winter Soldier, Halo, War Hammer 40K, Dead Pole, and many more fandoms.

I"m Kat Kiele, and till next time, Happy Hunting. I'll see y'all at the next con. Be sure to check the Facebook Page for the link for the interviews I did with several Star Wars groups while at WonderCon.

You can follow Kat's Photography Journey on Facebook at: www.facebook.com/jeditography or add her as a friend on www.facebook.com/Kat.Kiele

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